Burst limiting device for automatic weapons



Aug. 9, 1960 c. L. GQDAR BURST LIMITING DEVICE FOR AUTOMATIC WEAPONS Filed April 16, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. CHAELES L..GooAP- "Qfwa ATTORNEY-s 1950 c. L. GODAR 2,948,194

BURST LIMITING DEVICE FOR AUTOMATIC WEAPONS Filed April 16, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 F1 Gr. 3 INVENYTOR.

CHAaLas L.. GODAR.

'ATTOQNEYS Patented Aug. 9, 3960 BURST LIMITING DEVICE FOR AUTOMATIC WEAPONS Charles Louis Godar, Paris, France, assignor to Etude et Realisation dOutillage de Precision C. L. Godar et Cie, Courbevoie, France, a corporation of France Filed Apr. 16, 1957, Ser. No. 653,224

Claims priority, application France Apr. 19, 1956 9 Claims. (Cl. 89-129) Weapons of the so-called automatic type enable continuous firing to be carried out until the ammunition is exhausted in, for example, the magazine, the charger of the weapon, or again mounted on a feeder band, the firing taking place at a rate appropriate to the weapon considered.

in accordance with the present design of these weapons, this possibility of continuous fire permits an operation of successive bursts of a duration corresponding to each application of pressure on the trigger of the weapon.

Now, it appears that during the use of these Weapons, and more particularly in the case of light weapons, the bursts of long duration have a relatively bad efiiciency when account is taken of the bad aim which is caused by the movement of the moving parts, and results in a useless and unfortunate consumption of ammunition. In this connection, reference maybe made to the advice given during firing instruction to young soldiers in recommending that firing should be made in short bursts in order to re-aim the weapon and thus obatin a better effectiveness of fire.

An increase in the rate of fire of a weapon leads how ever to a better eliectiveness for the following reasons. It enables a maximum number of hits to be obtained on the target for an accurate burst, especially when the target is moving and even more so if its motion is rapid.

On the other hand, the defective aiming of the weap on is reduced by reason of the increase in the rate of fire, from which there results a relative increase in the weight of the weapon.

This arrangement however naturally leadsto a still higher consumption of ammunition which is often held to be prohibitive, so that generally a compromise solution has to be adopted.

The present invention enables both these aspects of the problem to be completely satisfied.

It relates to a device which enables the number of shots per burst of fire to be limited automatically, and thus permits of an increase in the rate of 'fire of automatic Weapons, at the same time providing an improved efliciency and avoiding the risk of excessive consumption of ammunition.

The invention consists essentially in providing a toothed member adapted to make successive displacements cou pled to each cycle of operation of the weapon and addition the shots, this member being employed, after a certain number of shots, to produce an interruption in the coupling between the trigger and the hanuner-release, resulting in an interruption in the firing.

Tothis end, the toothed member such as a toothed rack, segment or wheel, is displaced by the value of one tooth at each cycle of operation by the intermediary of .a driving member, the action of which is connected to-the. movementof the moving assembly of the weapon; whilst. a locking member carries out the function of re taining the toothed member'in position after each of its displacements, the said assembly being arranged to add the number of shots fired. The action of this locking member is coupled to the operation of the trigger-release system, so as to permit especially the return movement of the toothed member between two bursts of fire, for example when the trigger is released.

This device having a great flexibility of use also 'enables the number of shots in each burst to be reduced to any selected number less than that for which the. weapon is designed, this being etfected by adjustment of the position of the toothed member. In addition, for the case in which it is not desired to i'ntroduce this aue tomatic limitation of the duration of the bursts, it enables the action of the driving member or the locking member of the toothed device to be annulled, and in this way a continuous fire is obtained in the usual way.

In one form of embodiment, the toothed member produces a disconnection between the trigger and the release device by acting on an intermediate piece or Wedge interposed between these two members.

In a further form of embodiment, the trigger-release system comprises a latch-type coupling of the kind usu-, ally employed in the manufacture of weapons.

On the other hand, in accordance with one form of embodiment, the driving member, of the toothed de-' vice comes into engagement with the latter by the direct action of the breech in its lateral movement, the control of the said driving member being effected for example on the closing of the breech, this arrangement being particularly suitable in the case of a weapon with an automatic-firing breech (the breech being open in the cocked position).

In a form of construction which is more particularly A number of forms of embodiment of a device for" automatically stopping firing in accordance with the in: vention will now be described by way of example only, and without any implied limitation, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a diagrammatic view of the mechanism associated with the trigger of an automatic weapon with a self-firing breech, having an intermediate wedge in the coupling between the trigger and the release device, and the control of the toothed member, in this case a toothed rack, effected on the closure of the breech;

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic view of the trigger mechanism" of an automatic weapon with independent firing, and having a latch-type coupling betweenthe trigger and the release device, the control of the toothed member, in this case a toothed rack, being effected on the opening of the breech;

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic view in'plan of a device of the same design as that of Fig. 2, shownin its application to an automatic weapon with independen fin'ng, and having a sliding latch coupling between trigger and release, the toothed member being in the form of a circular segment;

'Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are views in elevation of the parts of the device shown in Fig. 3, given separately, and respectively taken along the lines IVIV, V-V and V'I-VI of the latter figure, Figure 6 showing a view of the breech inthe closed-position.

Referring now to Fig. 1, it can be seen that the device intended to cause an interruption in the coupling between the trigger 1 and the release device 2 after a certain number of cyclesof operation, is essentially composed of the following members: a moving toothed rack 3 which moves by a certain amount at each cycle; a pawl or locking member 4 which locks the rack 3 at each of its successive displacements; an intermediate wedge 5 which provides the mechanical coupling between the trigger 1 and the release device 2; an actuating arm or drive member 6 which provides the coupling between the breech block 7 and the rack 3, and determines the successive displacements of the rack.

The rack 3 is provided respectively at its forward and rear portions with a series of. ratchet teeth 8 and 9 and also with two longitudinal slots 10 and 11 which slide on the spindles 12 and 13 carried by the casing (not shown) of the mechanism. It comprises a return spring 14 which tends to bring it back against an adjusting stop 15. The trigger 1 is pivoted on a fixed spindle 16, its finger lever being urged towards the front by a spring 17 until its upper part comes up'agains-t an abutment shaft 18. Behind its pivotal shaft 16, the trigger member is formed into a U-shaped member, the upper arm 19 of which is engaged between a tenon 20 and guiding shaft 21, carried by the wedge member 5.

The lower arm 22 of the U-shaped portion of the trigger serves as a stop for the pawl 4 which is pivoted on a spindle 23 carried by the casing and which has a foot 24 urged upwards by a spring 25 to come into engagement with the said arm 22, the spring 25 being weaker than the trigger spring 17. The pawl 4 carries a tooth 27 at the end of its rear portion 26, this tooth coming into engagement with the'teeth 9 of the rack, from which it is kept disengaged in the normal position. The wedge 5 is pivoted at its rear on the same spindle 23 as the pawl, by means of a longitudinal slot 28 which permits it to move upwards and forwards in opposition to the action of its return spring 29, which normally keeps it engaged against the said spindle 23. The trigger-release member 2 which is pivoted on a fixed spindle 30, has its head 31 forced upwards until it abuts against a stop shaft 32 by means of a spring 33. In the normal position, its foot 34 is substantially vertically above the tenon 20 of the I wedge 5. The stop shaft 32 may also be formed by the front portion of the port or opening formed in the bottom of the breech casing for the passage of thehead of the release device. The actuating arm 6 of the toothed rack is pivoted on a fixed shaft 35 by means of a slot 36 which enables it to carryout a movement of translation and rotation when the detent 37 of the breech block '7 pushes thehead 38 of the said actuating shaft during the forward movement of the breech block. The tooth 39 on the actuating arm is arranged so as to come into engagement with the teeth 8 of the toothed rack and to move the latter forwards by one tooth during the closure of the breech. The actuating arm comprises in addition a re turn spring 40 which tends to bring it back as soon as the breech block recoils.

The operation of the device is as follows: The weapon being cocked, the detent37 of the breech block is in abutment on the head 31 of the release 2, the other members being in the position as shown on the drawing. 7

, When the trigger 1 is pressed, the pawl frocks rearwardly under the action of the compression spring 25 and as a result of the rising of the arm 22 of the trigger 1 comes into position at the level 'of the teeth 9. After this first phase, the trigger having lifted the tenon 20 of the wedge 5 by the amount of play provided for that purpose, the said tenon acts on the foot 34 of the release device 2, the head 31 of which moves away and frees the moving breech block 7.

In its forward movement, the detent 37 of the breech block 7 actuates the arm 6, the tooth 39 of which comes into engagement with the tooth 8 ofthe rack and then 4 moves the rack forwards by the length of one tooth, whilst the breech block, when it arrives in its closed position, also causes the firing of the first shot.

The first shot is then registered by the position of the .rack which remains held by th e tooth 27 of the pawl, in

engagement with the tooth 9 of the rear teeth.

When the breech block recoils, the actuating arm 6 is brought back to its initial position by the action of its return spring 40. The breech block again moving forward at the beginning of its second cycle, then again actuates the operating arm of the rack which moves forward by one tooth, the tooth 39 having come into engagement with the tooth 8 and the pawl thus registering the second shot by passing over the tooth 9 When the pro-arranged number of cycles has been obtained (four for example in the case shown), the rack, during the course of its last forward movement, pushes the wedge 5 forwards and thus provides the desired disconnection between the trigger 1 and the breech-release 2, due to the lateral displacement of the tenon 20. The release device immediately takes up its upper position under the action of the spring 33 and engages the breech block by its detent during its return movement towards the front, thus defining the end of the fourth cycle. The

firing is stopped, although pressure may be maintained on the trigger.

The operator must release the trigger in order to start a fresh burst of fire. This intentional release of the trigger causes the pawl to disengage from the teeth 9 by the action of the arm 22 on the foot 24 of the pawl, it having been stated that the spring 25 is less powerful than the trigger spring 17. The rack 3 is thus freed and is brought back towards the rear by the action of its light spring 14, and the wedge 5 is brought back into abutment against the shaft 23 by its spring 29. The whole of the trigger mechanism has thus returned to its initial position, and a further action on the trigger will start another burst of tire in identically the same manner.

It will of course be understood that the number of shots in a burst of fire corresponds simply to a certain length of the rack which, combined with a selected number of teeth, enables the desired characteristics of the burst to be fixed during construction. It is also possible however to provide for a reduction in the number of shots per burst with any given construction. The stop 15, which has been termed the adjustment stop, being movable towards the left and being capable of adjustment from the exterior, enables the travel of the rack and the number of active teeth to be easily modified, thus varying the duration of the burst.

In the same way, it is possible to provide in addition, an operation with ordinary continuous fire. For example,

' it is only necessary to provide an adjustable movable stop 41, the displacement of which towards the left will enable the actuating arm to be kept out of action by the breech during the course of its movement, or at least the tooth 39 is kept out of engagement with the teeth 8.

' For the same purpose, a locking arrangement may be provided for the pawl by any suitable means, a sliding abutment for example, the rack being always actuated in this case by the operating arm, but not retained by the pawl and subjected to to-and-fro travel of the amplitude of one tooth.

A device of this kind, described by way of example in its application to a weapon with a self-firing breech (the breech being open in the cooked position) may of course be applied to a breech system with independent fire (the breech being closed in the cocked position). The control of the actuating arm may also be provided as desired on the opening or on the return at the closing of the breech block, either at the beginning or at the end of the cycle. It is only necessary to provide for the freeing of the actuating arm from the teeth of the rack for the stop position considered of the breech of the weapon. In the construction shown in Fig. 2, there is again found in the device intended to establish a disconnection between the trigger 1' and the release 2' after a certain number of shots fired, an assembly of members having functions similar to those previously described and indicated by the same reference numbers: a rack 3 which is moved by the distance of one tooth at each cycle of operation by the action of an operating arm 6; a pawl 4' which locks the toothed rack 3' at each of its successive displacements; an intermediate member 5 ensuring'the connection between the trigger 1' and the release 2', with an interruption of the connection between the trigger and the hammer release being produced by the toothed member acting upon the intermediate member 5" after a certain number of shots fired.

It will be seen that the intermediate piece 5' is, in this case, a latch of the usual type, pivoted on the trigger 1, and held in contact with the foot 43' of the release mem her by means of a spring 44. .The breech block 7 is. that of a weapon of the independent firing type; this breech block is shownin the cocked-position (closed), itsspringoperated firing pin 45 being retained against the head of the release 46. It can readily be seen that, for operation' with automatic fire, this breech block becomes selffiring after the first shot fired, the firing pin'then remaining inthe projection positionas a result of the movement away of the head of the release 6'.

In its closed position, the breech 7' maintains the operating arm 6 away from the teeth 8' of the rack towards which it is urged by a spring 47, by the intermediary of its detent 48. The operating arm is provided with two slots 49 and pivotal shafts 50, the arrangement of which is adapted to allow the tooth 39' of the arm to come into engagement with the teeth 8', when the breech block- 7 opens and under the action of the spring 47, and to cause the rack 3 to move back by the distance of one tooth. The spring 47 is naturally more powerful than the spring 14, which has the function of ensuring simply the return of the rack to the forward position between two bursts of fire. The pawl 4' is held out of engagement with the teeth 9' of the rack in the resting position of the trigger, the return spring of which, together with the spring '33 of the reiease, apply a force which is preponderant with respect to that of the spring 25' of the pawl. The pawl is pivoted on the rear guiding shaft 13 of the rack, and it can come into engagement with the teeth 9' of the rack as soon as the trigger is actuated. It could equally well be controlled in exactly the same way by the release, if the arrangement of the parts lends itself better to this latter arrangement.

The operation, starting from the cooked position shown in the drawing, is as follows: I

When the trigger 1' is actuated, the release 2 moves away to free the striker 45 for the first shot of the burst. When the breech block opens, the operating arm 6' moves the rack backwards by the distance of one tooth, this first shot being registered by means of the pawl 4 which has been liberated as a result of the action applied on the trigger.

On the return of the breech block for closing, the operating arm is brought back to its initial position, the breech block operates as a self-firing breech, and at the beginning of each cycle, an additional shot will be registered as before. For a number of shots which has been previously fixed during manufacture of the device, this number of shots corresponding simply to a number of teeth and to a given displacement of the rack, the latter causes an interruption in the coupling betweenthe trigger and the release. In thisexample, the rack is provided with a boss 51 which comes into contact with a boss 52 of the latch, thus causing the displacement of the latch and in consequence the return of the release to its upper position. At the end of the cycle, the striker is then retained by the release and the filing is stopped. In order to begin a further burst, the operator must release the trigger and, at the same time as the latch 5 comes back into engagement'withthe. foot of therelease, the pawl 4 isedisengaged from the: teeth of. the rack, which is urged forwardsv by its spring 14'. The assembly of the parts being then in the position shown in the drawing, the operator can begin? to fire a further burst under the same conditions.

The operator can, of course, as has been previously indicated, modify the characteristics of the burst, that is to say he can reduce thepre-determined number of shots, by previously limiting the number of active teeth of the rack, for example by means of a slidingnabutment which enables it to be moved backwards by an indicated amount. In the same way, ordinary continuous automatic firing can be obtained by annulling the action of the operating arm 6 or the pawl4' by means-of an ap propriate stop.

The control of the toothedmember on the opening of the breech block, which has just been described for a weapon with independent firing, can also be applied to a weapon with a purely self-firingbreech, but in that case, a disengagement of the operating arm must then be provided for the position of retention of the breech (breech open), by using to this end for example the trigger-release system (disengagement of the release device or release of the trigger), the operating arm being for example moved. towards the front so that it can be reset by the breech at the end of the closure, as in the present device.

Figs. 3to 6 correspond to an embodiment of a principle of operation identical with that of Fig. 2 but applied to a mechanism of smaller overall size. The relative arrangement of the constituent members of this mechanism is shown in Fig. 3, the latter having been shown separately in Figs. 4 to 6in order to facilitate their identification. V

In Figs. 3 and 4, there can be seen the trigger 1" with its pivot 16 and spring 17", which carries ia. latch 5", sliding in a rebate formed in its upper part. This latch 5" has its sliding amplitude limited by a nipple 53 and is provided with a nose 54 which is brought into engagement with the foot 43'" of the release member 2" by the action of a spring 44".. The release member 2" with its pivot 30" is maintained in its upper position by the spring 33". Inthis position, it retains, as in the previous case,.the detent of. the striker 45" of the breech 7", this positionbeing shown: in Fig. 6, in which the breech block is thus shown inthe closed position.

The latch is provided at its rear portion with a hook 52, withwhich co-operates the stud 51 forming part of the toothed segment 3" (see Fig. 6), in order to cause the interruption of the coupling between the trigger and the release member by pulling the latch towards the rear;

Although they are shown separately in Figs. 5 and 6, the pawl 4 and the operating arm 6 are pivoted on the sameshaft 55, and are both provided with a slot which is engaged on the pivot 16" of the trigger. The respective toothed extremities 27". and 39" are located at the level of the single set of teeth 56 of the toothed segment 3 with a fixed pivotal shaft 57, and are urged towards the front and downwards by a spring .14", within the limits imposed by an abutment 58.

The tooth 27" of the pawl, urged into engagement with the teeth 56 by a spring 25", is normally kept out of engagement by a stud 59 carried by the trigger, in the position of rest of the trigger. The tooth 39" of the operating arm 61 is normallykept awayfrom the teeth 56' by a; detent 43 on the breech block 7", when the latter is'irr the closed position, this detentbeing displaced in the vertical plane with respect to that of the striker. The operating arm, with its spring 47" is adapted to play the same part as the arm of the preceding device. It will furthermore be observed that the features of interest of the operation which have just been described, are identical in their object with those of the previous device. The

7 operation is also precisely similar and willbe'readily un' a derstood. It is distinguished only by the fact that the disengaging movement or the'latch is 'a laterial recoil in stead of a downwardmovement." in fact, it can be seen I that for the forwardly-inclined position which the trigger will take-up duringthe' course of firing, the book 52 of the latch will become placedon the pathdes'cribed by the a stud 51-01? the toothed segment 3" (drawn in dotted lines in Fig. 4). At the end ofthe'burst of ,fire, after disen- V gagement and'on release of thetrigger, the sloping por itions 60' of the nose of the latch and 61 of the foot of the releasemember facilitate'the i e-engagement of'the latch by the action of the trigger spr'ing'and of its own spring. The arrangements in connection with carrying out, standard continuous fire or with the reduction in. a I the number of shots per burst of fire also appli- 7 cable in'thesame conditions.

Iclaim: I

normally retaining the drive member out of engagement with the toothed member, means carried :by' the drive 1 member; for engagement with 'the breech block: so that. the drive member is actuated by. the translation of the 1 breech blockhto displace the toothedmember by the amount of one tooth upon each shot fired, a locking; meme ber'actuate'd bythe trigger-mechanism in position for 1 firing the firearmfandoperatively associated with the,

toothed'member'to'lockingly retain the toothed member after each of its displacements, means carried by the toothed member for engagement with the trigger mechanism upon a predetermined extent of displacement of the toothed member in order to interrupt the connection between the elements of the trigger mechanism so as to stop the firing of the firearm after a predetermined number of shots, said locking member, upon release of the trigger, having means for releasing it from the toothed member so as to permit the return spring of the toothed member to return the toothed member to its initial position before the firearm is again fired and a new burst is started. f

2. An automatic device as claimed in claim 1, in which the said drive member is adapted to actuate the toothed member on the closing of the breech block, the said drive member being constituted by a pivotally-mounted arm adapted to slide towards the front and comprising: at one extremity, a head co-operating with a part of the breech block during the reciprocatory movement of the said breech block; at its other extremity, a single tooth for engagement with the teeth of the said toothed member and adapted to move the said member forwards by one tooth for every shot fired.

3. An automatic deviceas claimed in claim 1, in which the said drive member actuates the said toothed member on the opening of the breech block, the said drive member being constituted by a pivotally-mounted arm; means carried by the said breech block in its closed position for keeping the said arm out of engagement with g 1. In an automatic firearm, including'amo'vable breech block and a trigger irnechanism' consisting of interconi nected elements; a burst limiting device for limiting the i duration of bursts from the firearm; said device com- I prising a toothed member capable of displacement in tooth i I by tooth fashion corresponding to each} shot of a burst, 1

, a 'return'spring connected to the toothed member for returning it" to a starting position after the firing of a i predetermined number of shots corresponding to a' given number of teeth, a drive member arranged between the d v breech block and the toothed member and having means I y for engagingthe-teeth of the toothedmemberiand moving the toothed member intooth by tooth fashion, means t the teeth of the said toothed member; and elastic means acting on the said am. to bring it into. engagement with the toothed member at every opening of the breech block so as to displace said toothed member rearward by one tooth for every shotfired. t

e 4. An automaticidevice as; claimed in claim 1, in which t the said locking member a pawl pivotally-mounted on a fixed shatt; spring means for u'rging' thesaidpawl into means associated with the saidtrigger mechanismtor controllingthe said pawl; and a restoring spring for said trigger mechanism, the said restoringspring being more I powerfulthan the spring of the said pawl, whereby'the pawlis held disengaged from the toothedmemberwhile I 7 the trigger mechanism is not actuated.

' ,An automatic device'as claimed 1n claim 1, in which the said means for interrupting the connection. between the elements of the trigger mechanism is an intermediate wedge irnember, rotatably and slidably mounted one spindle; a restoring spring iorsaid ,wedge' nrember, said i trigger-mechanism including a trigger and a breech block. 7 release, said member being adapted to'eo -operate on the engagement with, the teeth; of the said toothed member; I I r one hand with an arm'fast with the said trigger and a .1 i

' a i foot projectingfrom'sa-id breech block release, and on the I i other hand with the. said toothed membenwhereby the d said wedge displaced in itssliding, direction' to; inter-1 i I 1 crupt'the said coupling after a given displacement of the said toothed member- 6. Anautomatic de'v1ce'asclairnedin claim 1'', in which i the said trigger mechanism includes a trigger and a breech block-release: member, said breech block-release, member being associated with a striker of the said breech I I 1 block, the coupling between said trigger and said breech 'blockvrelease including a latchmember; a projection car- I ried by the. said toothed member; a corre'sponding boss I 1 1 on the said latch, adapted to co-operatewith the said 1 projection, whereby the saidcmoperation interrupts the said coupling after I a given. displacement of the said I toothed member, 4O

further comprising means for reducing the pre-determined number of shots per burst of fire, the said means comprising a movable stop adapted to reduce the number of active teeth of the said toothed member by limiting the normal travel of the said member.

8. An automatic device as claimed in claim 1, and further comprising means for adapting the said device for usual continuous fire, the said means including a slidable abutment for displacing the said drive member, the said abutment being capable of adjustment from the exterior in such manner as to prevent action of the breech block and the toothed member on the said drive member.

9.. An automatic device as claimed in claim 1, and further comprising means for adapting the said device for normal continuous fire, the said means including a slidable lateral abutment for immobilising the said locking member, the said abutment being capable of adjustment from the exterior in such manner as to prevent action of the breech block on the said toothed member through the intermediary of the said drive member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,509,530 Rosengren et al May 30, 1950 2,532,794 Teece Dec. 5, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,054,380 France Oct. 7, 1953 7.. An automatlc device'asclaimed in. claim Land 

